Ore-concentrator.



Patented Feb. 25, I902.

w. a. D000. ORE couczmnmo'n.

(Apph t fllodlhr 18 1901 (No lode!) UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIS G. DODD, OF SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA.

QORE-CONCENTIRATOR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 694,005, da ryApplication filed March 18,1901. Serial No. 51,619. (No model.)

To ail whom it may concern.-

Be it known'that I, WILLIS G. DODD, a citizen of the United States,residing in the city and county of San Francisco, State of California,have invented "certainnew and useful Improvements in Ore-Concentrators;and'I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exactdescription of the same.

The invention relates more especially to that class of concentratorsknown as shaking-tables in contradistinction to the endless-beltconcentrators; and the object of the invention is the production of amachine which having large capacity shall occupy but small floor-spaceand a machine capable of effecting approximately perfect separation ofthe valuable particles of mineral from its attendant gangue while thepulp is traveling over the surface of the table on what may be termednatural lines due to the forces actin g upon it. In this class ofore-concentrators the reciprocating concentrating-tables have ordinarilybeen constructed in the shape of a parallelogram, upon the surface ofwhich are placed longitudinal riffles, the valuable particles of mineralto be separated from the gangue carried by the pulp fed onto the tablebeing caught in the riffles and carried longitudinally toward the tailor discharge end of the table, while the worthless portion of the pulpor gangue flows transversely over the table and is discharged at thebottom side of the table and permitted to escape. WVhen the pulp istreated with said form of table, a material loss occurs in the escape offine particles of mineral, which loss takes place for the followingreasons: The path of the valuable particles of mineral, due to themotion given the table, is along the upper sides of the longitudinalriffles toward the tail or; dis- The path of the charge end of thetable. gangue or worthless material of the pulp, due to gravity, istransversely across the table. These two paths intersecting-each other,as they do, at approximately a right angle, a disturbance is caused and.loss of fine material caught by the riffies takes place.

In the present invention the face of the table is of such constructionthat the path of the mineral and the path of the gangue in theirmovement over the face of the table intersect each other at a veryoblique angle,

causing little or no disturbance to the min eral caught by the riflies.Consequently the loss of the mineral sought to be saved is reduced toaminimum.

In order to comprehend the invention, reference should be had to theaccompanying sheet of drawings, wherein Figure 1 is a side view inelevation of the improved concentrator, and Fig. 2 is a plan View of themechanism disclosed by Fig. 1 of the drawings.

In the drawings the numeral 1 is used to indicate the circularconcentrating-table, which in the present case consists of acircular'cone centrally supported by a vertical shaft 2, whichworks inbearing orboX 3, se cured to the base or platform 4. The tablesurface orworking face is provided with a series of rilfies 5, concentric to eachother, but preferably with reference to the center of the table, eachdescribing the involute of a circle. These rililes start from the curvedpartition 6, which may be termed the .head of the circular table for thepurpose of the riffles startingpoint, and are run, preferably, onregular concentric involute curves described around the center of thetable, said riffies being of such length as to make the discharge end ofthe lower riffle extend'a slight distance beyond the one above.

The table maybe constructed of any suit able material and the riffies beformed integral therewith in the form of depressions or separatetherefrom and secured thereto in any suitable manner.

The tableis provided with a plain or unriflied portion 17, onto whichportion of the table the valuable p'articles of the material aredischarged from the riffles' for final treatment. v

To the standards 8' is secured the gangue receiving trough 9, which iscircular in form and arranged below the periphery of the concentrating-table. This trough receives the gangue or worthless materialdischarged from or washed off of the table, and the length of saidtrough is equal to or slightly greater than that of the lowermost riffleof the table.

At theapex or near the center of the table is arranged the feed-box 10,which box is dividedbyacentralpartitionintocompartments 11 12.Compartment 12 is the .ore or pulp receiving compartment,into which theore or pulp to be distributed over the table is delivered by thefeed-chute 13. From this compartment the pulp escapes onto the tablethrough outlet or escape openings let, formed therein. Compartment 11acts as a reservoir for the water to be distributed onto theplain orunriffied portion of the table, the Water being delivered into saidcompartment by means of the water-supply pipe 15 and escaping from saidcompartment onto the unrifiied portion of the table through the minuteoutlet-openings 16.

Any suitable form of mechanism may be employed for imparting anoscillatory motion to the table 1. In the present case the table isillustrated as being operated through the medium of the jointedconnecting-rod 17, connected at one end to the outerend of arm 18,projecting from the vertical shaft 2. The free end of the connecting-rodWorks through guide-bearing 19 and is attached to the eccentric-strap20, surrounding cam 21, secured to the drive-shaft 32. Motion isimparted to the drive-shaft from any suitable source of power by meansof power-belt (not shown) working over belt-wheel 23, attached to thedrive-shaft.

The operation of the machine is as follows: Power is applied to thedriue mechanism by any suitable means, setting same in motion, whichmovement is communicated to the table by means of the connecting-rod 17,cansing the table to oscillate or reciprocate around its central supportor bearing-gudgeon 3. Finely-crushed ore mixed with water, usuallydesignated as pulp, is conveyed into compartment 12 of the feed-box 10,from which it is fed onto the table 1 through suitable outlet-openings14, made for the purpose. The pulp, due to the inclination or cone shapeof the table, flows down radially toward the circumference, coming incontact with the obstructing-riflles 5, where the valuable particles ofthe mineral are caught and due to the reciprocating or oscillatingmotion given the table are moved around the table and onto the unrifiledportion 7, where any particles of gangue contained in the concentratesare washed out by means of clear water discharged upon the table fromthe water-compartment 11 of box 10. This water also serves to lubricatethe smooth unriffled portion of the table, permitting the concentratesto continue traveling around the table until they are discharged intothe box 24, which receives the concentrates. The gangue, the mineralbeing eliminated, flows downward over the rifiles and is discharged atthe periphery of the table into the trough or wastelaunder 9.

The construction of the concentrating-table, together with the motionimparted to it, effects a separation of the mineral from the gangue uponlines entirely different from those of any machine of its class, due tothe following reasons: The motion or agitation given to the pulp isvariable, being very slight cause little or nodisturbance, andconsequently no loss of the valuable particles sought to be saved; Theflow of the gangue is indicated by arrows Hand-that of the mineral byarrows It will be observed that the path of the ganguewhile transverseof the table is at an oblique angleto the path of the mineral at theintersection of the paths. Consequently there is little, if any,disturbance at such point. i

There is hinged to the unriflled portion of the table at the extremityof the lowermost ri'l'i'le adeilecting-iingcr 26. This finger serves toguide such of the gangue as may escape from said :rifl'le onto the plainor unrii'lledportion of the tableinto the launder or circular troughforthe gangue, thuspreventiug same discharging into the box located toreceive i the mineral discharged from the plain or unriifled portion ofthe table.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new, and desiredto be protected by Letters Patent, is-

1. An ore-concentrator comprising an oscillatory inclined table havingan unriflied or plain surface adjacent its discharge portion for theseparated mineral, a series of curved riifies upon the working face ofthe table, said riffles extending from approximately a radial divisionand terminating at and discharging IIO onto the plain or unriffiedsurface of the table, and means whereby an oscillating motion isimparted to the table whereby the mineral and gangue travel within theriffles at approximately the same velocity until separation takes place.

2. An ore-concentrating apparatus comprisin g an oscillatory tableinclined outwardly from its center, means for imparting an oscillatingmotion to the table during the treatment of the ore, a plain orunriiiled portion to the table, a series of curved riifles arranged onthe Working face of the table eccentric to its center, each riffieincreasing in length and extending a greater distance into the unriitledportion of the table than the riflie immediately above.

3. A concentrating apparatus comprising an oscillatory concentratingtable, means whereby an oscillating motion is imparted to the table, aseries of concentric rililes arranged upon the working face of thetable,

each riftle being the involute of a circle, and of aplain or unriffiedportion to the table intermediate the ends of the riffles.

4. A concentrating apparatus comprising an oscillatory concentratingtable, means whereby an oscillating motion is imparted to the table, aseries of concentric riffles arranged upon the working face of thetable, each riftle being the involute of a circle and itsdischarge endterminating at a point beyond that of its preceding riffle and a plainor unriffled surface to the table onto which the riffles discharge.

5. The combination in a concentrating ap paratus, of .a circularconcentrating-table, of means whereby an oscillating motion is impartedto the table, and of a series of curved ritfles arranged upon theworking face of the table, said ritliles being concentric, and a plainor unriffled portion to the table onto which the riffies discharge.

6. In an ore-concentrating apparatus, the combination with a cone-shapedconcentrating-table, having a plain or unriffled portion, of means forimparting an oscillating motion to said table, and a series ofconcentricinvolute curved riffles arranged on the working face of thetable, the discharge end of each riftle terminating at a point beyondthat of the riffle immediately above the same.

7. In an ore-concentrator, the combination with the cone-shaped tablemounted to oscillate around a central vertical axis, a plain orunriftled portion to the table, a pulp and water distributing boxarranged to distribute the pulp and water at the apex of the cone, aseries of downwardly-inclined curved riffles arranged on the workingface of the table and extending onto the plain or unriftled portionthereof, the discharge end of each riffle being beyond that of theriffle immediately above, and means whereby an oscillating motion isimparted to the concentrating-table.

8. In anore-concentrator, the combination with the circular cone-shapedtable having a plain or unriftled portion, of means for imparting anoscillatory motion to the table, a pulp and water distributer arrangedto distribute at the center of the table, a partitionwall secured to theworking. face of the table, 5

and a series of concentric curved riftles extending from saidpartition-wall across the working face of the table.

9. In an ore-concentrating machine, the combination with the circularconcentratingtable having anupper radially-sloping face, of devices forsupplying water andpulp to said table, a central support for the table,a bearing for the support, a plain or unriffled portion to the table,means for imparting an oscillating motion to the table, and a series ofdownwardly-inclined curved riflies arranged upon the working face of thetable,

each riftle extending and discharging onto the plain or unrifflcdportion of the table.

an oscillating motion to the table, a series of 8 curved riftlesarranged on theworking face of the table, each riffle discharging ontothe plain or un'riffl'ed portion of the table, devices for supplyingwater and pulp to the surfaces of the table, a circular trough orlaunder for receiving the gangue discharged from the table, and adeflecting-finger secured to the unriffled portion of the table ata'point beyond the discharge end of the bottom rififle.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my 0 hand.

WILLIS e. DODD.

l/Vitnesses:

N. A. ACKER, D. B. RICHARDS.

